I just wanted to add that I tried to call to make my appointment but was asked to bring all of my prepared documents to le centre de reception estranger just to make the appointment. Now it’s her turn to help others in this article about how to get a VPF visa. Do you have any experience or knowledge about this? Don’t worry too much about something having your name vs. his- they asked us for a year of proof for being PACSed and our main proof was our pay slips at the same address, so it’s okay to have different papers. ), Your kind suggestion will really help me a lot. Hi, I'm Emily! We were right- she joked with us the whole time, bonded with Didier as she was also from the same region of the south of France, and was of the same opinion as the accueil lady that our file was fine. It was actually REALLY easy-going and I was in and out within 30 minutes! They did look at the documentation I provided, and they gave me advice about what to bring the next time around. Also we bought an apartment under both name. I’m in a similar situation where I don’t have 1 full year proved of living with my partner but am considering this option as a way to get a visa eventually. Nous sommes Pacsé depuis le mois de juin 2017, et nous répondons à tous les critères de cette demande. Are you or a friend going through this process? we had to show the recepisse d’enregistrement, my tds, my passport, his id, and the attestation de non disolution datant de moins 3 mois. Yes I had moved to France in 2016 on a WHV, during which time I met my boyfriend. thanks Emily and yeah congrats on your visa. Reading everyone’s testimonies here, it seems that letters from friends and relatives and photos are not very useful nor necessary…. I really appreciate your response. Back in 2017, when I floated out of the French Embassy, New York City sparkled around me. Hi Sylvie, what kind of visa are you currently on? The agents will respond well to you if you’re friendly and prepared- basically, if you make their job easy by providing everything you need to in the order for which it is asked, and do it with a smile and maybe a couple jokes (I made both accueil lady and glasses lady laugh, and in French no less!). Pretty much any official document that had been sent to me–OFI, bank stuff, doctor stuff, etc. Honestly I would join some of the expat groups if you’re not already in them and ask others who live in the jurisdiction of Nanterre- there are a lot of you who have had similar problems! La carte de séjour portant la mention “vie privée et familiale” est le titre de séjour le plus courant. The most important first step you can take in getting this visa is to put as many bills and papers as possible in both names. Although I speak the language fluently, I’ve only studied it in America. The French Embassy in New York City is just off Central Park East on a block of regal brownstones. I have an appointment to change my status from visitor to vie privee/familiale. Does anyone know if í’m allowed to stay in france and just not work until the date of the appointment ? Check out my post on how to get PACSed linked in the first paragraph as well for more information about how that process works. little question here, for how many years they gave you the visa privée familiale ? « Quelle option de couverture pour conjoint étranger visa long séjour vie privée et familiale ? But I have my monthly bank statement where it’s written “chez” his name and his address. To be able to change status, she HAS to have a current, active visa- if she leaves and her visa expires, you won’t be able to do the status change, or at the very least it will be a lot harder. my boyfriend is being wwaaayyyy to laissez-faire about it and saying that we have enough with the attestation but he has never had to deal with french bureaucracy for purposes of not being deported. Thanks for the heads up! He also explained that, as an American, I would not be judged as harshly. it only took 10 minutes!!! Hi Kam! for example, I’m applying to master’s programs for the fall (granting me a student visa) and will get pacsed while I am a student then change to vie privee after my studies (like you did). I’ve heard this as well, the Nanterre préfecture is apparently a total mess. Moved back to the US in July 2017. I would like to make an appointment and apply for my carte de séjour, but wonder if you know if I HAVE to have a long stay visa in my passport in order to apply. We have an electricity, mobile and internet bills over 2 years. I was actually thinking of doing the APS first and then I discovered about the pacsed and the possibility of getting a carte de séjour with it. I’m not sure… I’m fairly certain you can switch to VPF from most statuses, but I’m no professional so you might want to consult someone else on that. PACSed March 2015, returned to Australia to apply for new visa, returned July 2015, visa appointment June 2016, visa granted September 2016. tHANK YOU so much for this information! So in the interest of all our sanities, I thought I would put together a guide of how to prepare for the appointment and what paperwork to get together for this status change. Included with this information was a sort of short application form you need to fill out — just basic identifying information — to be presented at the rendez-vous. A little after 13:00 the lady at the accueil called me over and asked for my papers in the order listed above, copies only. This is such a great explanation of the process. Hi Ji-Soo, thanks so much for sharing your story! i’ve been coming to france on a short term schengen visa for the past 2 years, so officially about 9 months of living together. It’s an automated system, and at one point they will ask you something that you won’t understand and you will need to press the pound key- just trust me on this one. Hi emily – or others who might have answers! i “legally” live in a suburb of paris with my boyfriend, hosted by his parents…however I am living in Paris. Once you make the appointment, they’ll send you the list of papers you need! Do you have any news ? Carte de séjour vie privée et familiale : vous avez un enfant français. It’s simple when you think about the names — the VPF visa proves you have a (private or familial) tie with the country while the visitor visa means, well, you’re a visitor. Hi Mustafa, you can get PACSed on the 3 month visa exemption but you can’t get the associated residence permit unless you’ve already been living here on a legal visa/residence permit for at least a year. Hi James! You can get it by emailing pacs.scec@diplomatie.gouv.fr. In order to apply for a VPF visa, you must be married or PACSed. or does he do it before leaving ? – Bank statements from the last 3 months showing that I have means to support myself (same as for my visa). Okay! Thanks for sharing your experience. Even the consulate in New York gave me the runaround…Curious to hear your words of wisdom!! I’m a US citizen, came to France on a student visa (au pair) in September 2016. But for my wife, my employer told that they can’t help. It’s definitely possible that you could get the CDS with the PACS (supposedly they just changed the requirements? My husband and i are both US citizens and he will be going to school in Paris for his masters. 1. Vous devrez fournir : … and after 6 month will be a renewal at prefecture and when it is 1 year you can get carte de sejour. — About 6 hand-written and signed statements from friends and family members of my partner talking about how long my partner and I have lived together and my activities in the community. good luck! Anytime after that date/time slot, you can go pay for the fiscal stamps and pick up the card. But the man asked Fred for twelve months of bank statements: our joint bank account was less than twelve months old, and he wasn’t interested in the deed. — Invoices for shared expenses with both our names on them. If you are currently on a student visa like I was, you are not registered with the Centre de Réception des Étrangères, and as you will no longer be under the jurisdiction of the student prefecture in the 18th arrondissement, it is highly unlikely you will be able to get an interim récépissé to allow you to be able to work. i am an au-pair and the family i work for graciously lets him live in my flat because he was living with his grandparents in the suburbs. 1) It might, but you never know. In addition to the standard IDs listed above, here are the ones requested pertaining to my situation, which was “Proof of Personal and Family Ties in France”: As you can see, the prefecture list is lengthier and less document-specific than the online list. After you go through security, go out the doors at the back of the room on the left and you’ll come to an open courtyard/parking lot. I had a social security number. We want to live in France and are wondering what visa he could get. – Just because you have an appointment for the second visit to the préfecture does not mean you won’t sit around waiting for 3 hours. Finally got the CDS in August 2018. I’ll be bookmarking it! You would have needed to have documents (bills, bank statements, etc) together during that year- they don’t take photos or train tickets as proof (we brought some and they laughed at us). When I mentioned I had additional documents, he wasn’t interested and only asked for 12 items of the 20 I had with me: Since neither of the document lists mentioned #12, Fred didn’t bring anything besides his passport and a copy of his deed. L'étranger ne doit pas vivre en état de polygamie. They shook their heads at me and told me if I had waited till after it expired, I would have gotten fined, but I just picked up my card like normal. My situation for a cds vie privee is a bit funny. Ideally, you should have 12 months of these papers with both names. Do they look at your passport to see if you’ve left france or calculate how many days you’ve been in france based on you leaving and staying? Applied in Nanterre (read: hell on earth) for the VPF in May 2017. how long after getting the récépissé did you wait before receiving the text message that your cds is ready for pickup? or I just need to ask my language school for the certificate? Does she have to work and have a work VISA? Hi Mary! You may already have one from a former visa or your PACS. One statement from EDF in both names attesting to the amount of time we have lived at our current address Thank you very much. Do you know if we are expected to be there the entire 1.5 hours? B’s Tip: Even if you don’t have a lot of papers together, just gather as many papers as you can with the mutual address on them. The prefecture is still looking for proof of your and your partner’s shared life, as well as your commitment to your life in France. A couple weeks later we received an attestation in the mail, along with our cards that have our mutuelle information on them. This isn’t even counting my friends who are on this visa status, whose stories are all so different from each others’ (though they’ve all had to go in more than once to deal with it) which isn’t helpful when trying to figure out how to prepare. Hi Emily! The last question the woman asked during my interview was if I’d return to the U.S. at the end of the year. As a friend told me while I was freaking out about this process, it’s not their job to deny you! You will have the right to work in France at any job with this CDS. 2) I am still not fluent in French but I am currently learning, do I need like a delf test result as a proof of my french level? Ce titre de séjour autorise par nature à travailler en France et permet de voyager à l’étranger. She had to leave the prefecture and go home to get it before they would give her her récépissé. Could you give me the number that you called to get the appointment ? Thank you, Chris, for these details ! Have you considered applying to ask for the French “naturalisation ” to become a citizen? If the former, you need to have proof of your marriage, as well as six months of residence if you didn’t arrive on a long-stay visitor visa. Hi James! She provided: personal papers: academic records; joint papers- bank statements, electricity bill, taxes declared together, health insurance; separate papers- phone bills, her personal bank statements, their individual payslips. What have been some of your experiences with classes and best ways to pick up the language? Just send a formal email like “Bonjour, Je vous serais reconnaissante de bien vouloir m’adresser…” (your boyfriend should be able to help with this). Hope this helps someone -_-. Thank you for this detailed post! Once we were called up, the same man looked over the documentation, talked with me a bit about what was in the folder (a sort of informal interview, maybe? Also: open to suggestions on how to improve and adapt conversationally in French. thanks for this and the other article about getting pacsed. well they said its not problem if its 12 months passed or not, but just a proof that we live together. Do we need the actual PACS certificate before i apply for a new visa ( they said it will take a couple of months) I recommend you call at least 4 months in advance of the expiration of your current visa to avoid ending up like me and having a two month period where I had no valid visa and thus could not legally work. Thanks again for this great post. This was I can refer to that , Have a great day ! As much as I hope to have find a job by the time we plan to move back there, I can guarantee that so all my work experience would be from South Africa. If what I read is correct, she will have to go back to her country for at least 90 days before being able to come back here and she will also have to hold a “long stay visa” before being able to apply for the “vie privée vie familiale”. I too am having trouble understanding the required documents, the Rhône préfecture website is not clear at all. Visitor or Profession Liberale? My PACSée and I went to the préfecture for my departement (not sous préfecture… in my case, I had to go to Versailles rather than Saint Germain en Laye) a few months back after making that post to make an inquiry/rendez-vous. If you want to visit your family without settling permanently, check the conditions by referring to the tourist and private stay section.. Better to try at 11 months than do that- though I’m curious why you wouldn’t just wait a year? We have paperwork of living together since Jan 2016 though NOT IN France (Belgium AND NETHERLANDS). Changed from a long stay visitor visa. Also i got the visa for my minor son. were you here at first with the working and holiday visa? If anyone out there knows a way around it I’d love to know, I’d like to make my rdv now despite not having all my papers prepared. We got a lot of sass for having the audacity to staple documents together… Good luck! All documents are ready except my language certificate. So happy to hear that you got the visa! 5. rent receipt (in my name, not on her name. I think that’s about it. Please post on here how you went, and exactly what documents were needed! May all of us laugh with success and happiness. However, if you’re planning to do a full year Master’s program and you move in with your partner and get all your ducks in a row for the VPF right from the start, I don’t see any reason that you’ll get rejected. You can’t get PACSed with her if you’re not living in France and you can’t apply for any kind of visa once already in France, so you’ll need to apply for something in your home country. Congratulations on getting your vie privée carte de séjour! Hey guys, since this blog post helped me along my visa/pacs journey, I thought I would share my experience here, in case it can help some of you out. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Your French partner would need to contact whoever at their company handles mutuelles, but you’ll need to be PACSed first so you have a legal basis to be making the request. – A copy of my passport with a Longstay Visa (type D) for my most recent entry. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Does anyone knows if living together overseas ( we can proove it) counts? So, if you're going to join your spouse, who is already living in France, what they want is proof that s/he is legal in France (i.e. You can definitely apply for new visas from within France- I hope you haven’t been going back to your home country if you’ve needed to renew! Disclaimer: I am struggling to pick up french, and have been for a couple years now…do you think this will be a road block in applying/scheduling the appointment? I’m still pretty excited about it. The long-term stay visitor visa allows you to spend a year in the country, and…that’s about it. Hopefully that will supplement the attestation and you’ll be good to go. When I was called back, the man told me everything was great, and that I’d be getting my carte de séjour. 2) It depends on the situation- if it’s approved on the spot, then yes. Definitely call now though, you probably won’t get an appointment until January (they’re always pretty swamped). Thanks, Hi everyone! my girlfriend and I got PACSED this week and i will apply for carte de sejour. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. A little cheeriness goes a long way in fighting the stress of the appointment for you and the long workday for the agents. Hi Kev, I’d call the prefecture and ask in that case. 10 Jul 2005, 03:35 Anonymous. Hello again! I always return to this site for all of my french visa related questions so Thank you again SO much for this paltform Emily! hello Guys and Emily, My visa appoitnment for the status change is on 19th november, by then we would have only completed 6 months, I am afraid they won’t give me vpf visa (my bf already has a carte de résident). If the business one was rejected, your best bet is probably to come back on a long stay visitor visa or a student visa. If your name is not on the internet/phone and electricity bills with your partner’s name, I suggest arranging this change as soon as possible. Like Chris I too have an appointment coming up to renew my titre de sejour vie privee et familiale. and she said “oh i’ll take it”. The problem is that They delivered me a récépissé without a work permit… and It’s very frustrating cuz now I get a permanent job offer and I just have to wait for my card. In my experience in Paris, as long as your récépissé is still valid, you can pick up your card anytime after the SMS says it’s available. You’ll need to go back and get a different one from the consulate in your home country (student and visitor are easiest) and come back for a year to be able to get this. Changed from a student visa. I think this reply is way too late, but in order to help others I can say that my french partner and i, despite having lived for a year together in canada while being pacsed, were unable to apply for the carte de séjour when arriving in france. Book Club: My Life in France, by Julia Child, Three Years On, Part I: Penseés for those planning to move to France, Book Club: Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell, Book Club: A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway, Guest Post: Paris Greeters, by Craig Ziegler, Your passport (with photocopies of the pages relating to civil status, validity dates and entry stamps), Identity card or certificate of French nationality of your spouse/partner, Marriage certificate or PACS agreement of fewer than 3 months (, Proof of community of life: joint declaration on the honor of the couple attesting to their common life and all documents allowing to establish the community of life (, For the married: your marriage certificate. hello Lauren Im in a similar situation as yours, I’ve been leaving for two years with my partner in China Im Argentinian and she is French so Im wondering if it possible to present our chinese apartment contract. The latter I had to get in Paris in person since I was running low on time. Awesome thanks ! Though if you’re reading this article, you already know that’s not true, it’s just further proof of the need for transparency around this process. Unfortunately I don’t- the prefecture is notorious for not actually giving people information, so it’s mainly stuff I’ve learned either via my own experiences or those of my friends/acquaintances. (I’m going through the Rhone Prefecture). If you did arrive on a visitor visa, there’s no waiting period. Your blog is so instructive, it’s wonderful! Visa vie privée et familiale. On september 2016 I went to renew my titre de sejour étudiant to pursue the master 2 in alternance. what i would suggest for you is that your girlfriend get a long term visiting visa (yes it exists, i found out after) but you need to send her an official invitation letter sealed by the government for at least 3 months and then proving anything that she will be with you and she has financial situation and all bla bla. Within the expat Facebook groups alone are easily 10 people who will tell you different things about what happened to them when they went in for their appointment. You will need to buy timbres fiscaux (fiscal stamps) from a tabac for this amount and bring them with you to collect it. When you call, it will be in French, so if you don’t speak the language ask someone else to make the call. These were the easiest ones for us to change. She had some minor questions about visa issues but seemed supremely in command of what she needed to do. I am American and do a lot of traveling for work, so have not needed a long stay visa. again, i would get pacsed while on the travailleur temporaire visa. If so I would be so grateful! Quick question in terms of documents needed- When we got pacsed they collected my certified birth certificate as well as the official translation. good luck! People commonly call this the PACS visa, but it’s actually the same visa status that they have for married people or those who have lived together for a number of years. You definitely seem to have an angel watching over you . I saw that you needed some paperwork related to it. Hello chris.congrats.i got pacsed wit my partner in January and I applied for a rendezvous at prefecture Versailles for June.but I was asked to wait till my commune de vie complete a year bcos the only prove we had was EDF and rent bills.which carries my name from January.is it compulsory to present a joint account or an insurance with both names?.thans. I’m from the states, and am recently pacsed, and will have my appointment in October for the VIE PRIVÉE ET familial “visa.” This blog has been a huge source of comfort for me especially because like you said everybody’s process can be extremely different!